No More Mr Nice Guy
by Kellifer
Summary: Suffering a fatal wound, Jack makes the decision to put Daniel in a Sarcophagus, despite being warned that it might not be the same Daniel waking up they once knew. Chapter 13 now uploaded. STORY COMPLETE!
1. Default Chapter

Disclaimer - I don't own any of the characters or events portrayed on Stargate SG1 but I borrow them for stories.

-No More Mr Nice Guy-

Prologue - The Decision

De Ja Vu all over again.

They'd been making their way out of a Gou'ld fortress and doing a pretty good job of it. Making short work of the Jaffa they came upon. Daniel had run out of ammo so Jack had thought to keep him safer he'd put him behind himself. In all the confusion, staff blasts and P90 fire he'd just assumed Daniel would have been ok behind him. No one had seen the single Jaffa come around a corner, staff raised, right behind them.

No one but Daniel.

Unarmed and defenseless, Daniel had done the only thing he could do. He'd shielded Jack with his body. Jack had heard the staff blast from behind and a horrible, hurt puppy noise and had whipped around, shooting automatically. He'd hit the Jaffa dead on and there'd been a terrible silence. Jack had looked down and Daniel was crumpled on the floor, a smoking crater in the middle of his chest. Jack had heard a small cry escape from Sam and she'd rushed over. She'd started trying to stop the bleeding but Jack could see Daniel had died instantly.

Saving him.

Again.

Teal'c had come to Jack's side, face ashen but serious. "SamanthaCarter." Teal'c had said simply as she had worked furiously on their already-dead friend. She hadn't looked up at them, knowing that she would have to acknowledge the truth if she didn't. "DanielJackson is - "

"No." Sam's voice was hollow. Her furious pace was slowing and Jack could see tears streaming down her face, even though she was silent. She seemed to wind down like a doll. "No." Her voice was now tiny, as if everything in her was fading. Her hands were coated in Daniel's blood and she held them up, looking at them in detached interest. "No." Barely a whisper.

"I saw a Sarcophagus back there. We can make it." Jack said. Sam looked at him quickly; hope born in her eyes but Teal'c was looking at him with a worried expression. "Did not Doctor Frasier once say that any further exposure to a Sarcophagus would be dangerous for DanielJackson?" Jack turned to look at Teal'c with an incredulous expression. "More dangerous than him being _dead_?"

"Not physically. Here." Teal'c said, tapping his temple. Jack grunted in anger. He lifted Daniel up and over his shoulder in a fireman's carry. He tried not to think the words _dead weight_.

"Take point Teal'c." He said. "That's an order."


	2. Awakenings

"How long since you slept Carter?"

Sam was sitting by Daniel's bed in the infirmary, his hand held loosely in her own. She felt a warm hand on her shoulder and smiled up at the speaker. "I just wanted to be here in case he woke up Sir." She said in way of reply. Jack smiled down at Sam, noting the dark circles under her eyes. He hadn't been able to sleep either and had sought out Daniel's bedside automatically.

"Scooch over." He said. Jack dropped onto the same chair Sam was occupying as all the other chairs in the infirmary had vanished. She dropped her head onto Jack's shoulder and sighed. "It's been three days." She said, concern evident in her tone.

"I know."

"Aren't you usually awake straight after you get out of the sarcophagus?"

"Yep. The Doc says there's nothing wrong with him physically. We don't really know how the damn boxes work. Maybe Teal'c was right." Jack sighed heavily. He had to confess that the main reason he hadn't slept was because of the concerns Teal'c had voiced before Daniel had been placed in the sarcophagus to be resurrected. Jack knew he hadn't been thinking straight. His only wish was to save Daniel but he knew from experience that he should have paused to heed the large Jaffa's concern. Teal'c cared for Daniel as deeply as he did but was nowhere near as rash.

"Don't beat yourself up about it." Sam said, reading the Colonel's thoughts that were written large across his features. "Teal'c helped you put Daniel in the damn thing. If he'd been _that_ sure that it was the wrong thing to do he would have refused to let you. You know him." Jack knew that Sam was trying to be reassuring but it didn't mollify him.

He wondered if they had saved Daniel physically, only to doom him to life as a vegetable. Jack knew that he was listed as the one to make the decision to pull the plug on Daniel if he ever ended up on a respirator with no hope of recovery. Daniel was someone that definitely did not want to be trapped in his own body.

Jack had started to wonder if he'd done just that.

xxxxx

There was a great deal of pain and then nothing. He felt warm and complete and there was light and friendly hands and voices guiding him. He'd been in this place before, although he had never spoken of it. He felt a familiar presence before him and his heart filled with joy.

But then there was a terrible ripping sensation and he felt himself being dragged backwards. He cried out in frustration and terror and he felt something _let go_ in his mind, something he had been able to hang on to the numerous times before.

Something that skittered away from him.

The darkness that surrounded him now filled the void left behind.


	3. Pain

Disclaimer - I don't own the characters or events portrayed in Stargate SG1 but I use them for stories.

Disclaimer II - I use Janet Frasier because… well I like her as a character and am in denial about her being gone. I'm claiming artistic license.

-Part 3- You Died…. Again…

"Jack?"

Jack started awake. He wasn't sure when he'd drifted off but he was aware that Sam's head was still on his shoulder and she was still asleep. He looked toward the bed and Daniel's blue eyes were open and looking at him. Jack smiled and reached over to squeeze Daniel's shoulder. "Danny boy. Good to see you." He whispered, trying not to wake Sam. Daniel's eyes ticked to Sam's face and then back to his.

"How long have I been out?" He asked, his voice hoarse. Jack reached over to the wheeled table next to Daniel's bed and retrieved the cup of water with a straw left there. He let Daniel take a sip, who smiled gratefully.

"About three days big guy. You had us worried there for a sec."

"What happened?"

"You died… again. That's a bad habit you're forming." Jack explained with a wry smile. "There was a sarcophagus though and we put you in. Fixed you up, although you took a while to come back to us this time." Jack continued, worry still creasing his brow. He could see Daniel taking in what he'd said and mulling it over before speaking.

"You…. you _were_ told that I shouldn't be exposed to the sarcophagus anymore…weren't you?" Daniel asked. His eyes had a faraway look to them like he was still processing the information he had just been given. Jack winced, worrying yet again that his decision had been more with his heart than his head.

"Yeah, I know, but I wasn't really thinking about that at the time." He said. Daniel looked drawn and weak and it pained him to see him like that. Daniel turned his face to Jack and smiled that same old Daniel smile and Jack felt the worry lift from him. "Thanks." He said simply, reaching a hand out to Jack, who took it and clasped it between his own. "I would say anytime, but I want this to be the _last_ time I have to do this." He said, his tone mock-stern. Daniel chuckled weakly but his laugh died and a look flittered across his face that Jack didn't recognise.

"Jack…I think something's - " He started and then his whole body went rigid. Jack jumped up, nearly knocking Sam off the chair they'd been sharing. "Doc!" He cried. He saw the tiny figure of Janet Frasier racing towards them with a nurse in tow. Jack leaned across Daniel and held him down on the bed as he began convulsing. He heard Sam cry out in dismay before darting around to the other side of the bed to help try and keep Daniel pinned.

Janet appeared by Jack's side, all stoic professionalism. Another nurse appeared beside Jack to take his place holding Daniel. "Sam, Jack, let us work." Janet said quickly as another Doctor took Sam's place. The two stepped away reluctantly, both wanting to help but knowing they would have been more of a hindrance. They were hustled outside as Janet started barking orders to her staff.

Out in the hallway Jack lowered himself onto the floor with his back against the wall and pressed his thumbs into his eyes. Sam lowered herself beside him. She knew he would blame himself for anything that happened to Daniel when in actual fact all he'd tried to do was save his friend.

"Don't say it Carter." Jack grumbled and Sam started. It was like he could see into her mind sometimes. She smiled at him wanly. "What, about this still not being your fault? It's not you know. He'll be fine. His body's been through a lot but Janet's taking care of him." Sam said, knowing the reassurance was as much for her as for Jack. She'd lost Daniel once before, and although it was terrible, she knew Jack had lost him twice and blamed himself for the first time. She thought it might drive Jack a little crazy to have two deaths plaguing him, even if they were both the same person.

"SG8 and 12 went through and retrieved the sarcophagus. I'm going to go and see if Potter had any luck figuring it out. Maybe there's a way to reverse any damage done." Sam stood and looked down at Jack. He looked lost and painfully sad. "You wanna come?" She prompted, nudging him with her boot.

"Nah. You go and work this out. I think I'll stay here for a while." Jack said, not looking up at her.


	4. Dawn of a New Daniel

Disclaimer - I don't own any of the characters or events portrayed in Stargate SG1 but I happily use and abuse them for stories.

Part 4 - Dawn of a New Daniel

"It's been booby-trapped."

"What?" Sam looked at the young man in front of her with confusion and worry. It was the last thing she'd wanted to hear but what she had been dreading. Potter was a brilliant 24 year old that had been recruited straight out of University by the Air force because he was a savant when it came to gadgets. He'd managed to get a few alien devices working that had left the rest of the scientific minds at the SGC stumped. She believed he could work anything out given enough time and trusted his judgement.

Just this once she wanted him to be _wrong._

"Yep. I would say it was a pretty nasty thing to do… but the way I hear it these Goua'ld are, you know, _evil_, so it would be true to character that they would do something like this." He continued. Potter was sitting cross-legged in front of a panel he had opened in the side of the sarcophagus with parts strewn all around him. Sam now hunkered down beside him. "How can you tell?" She asked, interest warring with her worry.

"Well, the sabotage was pretty crude. They must have been in a hurry. They've fried a few connections and removed some of the major parts. I haven't been able to see a working one of these before but this one just isn't…put together right. Give me a few more weeks and I'll be able to have a whole lot of techno babble to justify my finding. For now, just trust me. I would _not_ stick a human in here." He said. He looked sideways at Sam and the smile fell off his face. He'd noticed all the colour drain out of hers. "Aw crap, was someone put in this thing?"

"Daniel." Sam answered hollowly.

xxxxx

There was still a tiny spark left of the man they'd known, and this was the part that was fighting tooth and nail to kill the body. The darkness clung to the physical form it inhabited, fighting with all its strength to hold onto the being it had usurped.

The part that was still Daniel was fighting a losing battle though. Not only was the darkness strong, but outside forces were also fighting for his survival and being bombarded on both sides to relinquish his hold, he didn't have much time.

He knew he wouldn't win, so instead he found a tiny, untouched part of his own mind, a mind that had been pillaged and invaded time and again, and drew himself inwards. The darkness searched for him, trying to obliterate any traces of what he used to be, and not finding him, was satisfied that its victory was complete.

It let the skilled hands of a doctor bring it forth into the waking world.


	5. Threat Assessment

The bowl of fruit loops lay in front of the Colonel forgotten and congealing. There was a spoon full of them that had made it halfway to his mouth before being forgotten about. It pained Sam to see Jack staring off into space. He usually looked so self-assured and never let himself be caught off guard.

"Sir?"

Jack looked up at her and his eyes focused. "Huh?" Jack seemed to pull himself out of his reverie and looked at the spoon in front of him. He grunted with distaste and let it drop back into his bowl with a splat. "Sorry Carter, I was a million miles away." Jack looked drawn and tired and Sam was pretty sure he hadn't slept since they had brought the unconscious Daniel back through the gate. She knew because she hadn't been able to sleep either, except when she'd been by Daniel's bedside.

"I just saw Janet. She said Daniel's awake again." Sam pulled out the chair opposite the Colonel and sat down. He'd pushed out from the table, ready to go and see Daniel, but seeing Sam's expression, he lowered himself back into his chair. "Carter?"

"Sir… I just spent the whole night with Potter working on the Sarcophagus that was brought back through. He was of the opinion, and I'm now sure he's right, that the Sarcophagus was sabotaged." Sam said, tearing at the nails on her fingers. Sam's gaze locked with Jack's and she saw his jaw clench and his eyes darken. "The Goau'ld knew we were coming and before they evacuated they made damn sure anything valuable wouldn't work. Apparently there were a number of other items retrieved that were also… rigged."

"Rigged?" Jack's voice was tight.

'Unfortunately they didn't just _break_ things so we couldn't use them. Potter called it booby-trapping and I think he was right. They fixed them so they would…backfire. Cause harm. Cause damage." Sam explained.

"I should've-" Jack began, fists clenching and jaw tightening further. Sam cut him off though, having guessed that he would try to find someway to blame himself. "There's no way you could have known Sir. _Potter_ didn't know until he pulled the damn thing apart. They did this on purpose so we wouldn't know. It _looked_ like it worked."

"But Daniel's awake. He's okay." Jack said suddenly, looking up with hope in his eyes. Sam smiled tightly. "Janet said physically he seems fine." Sam began, her eyes ticking away and then back. Jack was up out of his chair again and she reached up and touched his forearm. "Sir, there's no way of knowing _what_ was done to Daniel or what affect it will have for that matter. He might be fine… but we can't know that for sure. General Hammond wants to see us to discuss it. I told him I would fill you in before we went to his office." She rose also. Jack breathed out a frustrated sigh and ran a hand through his hair.

"Every time I've woken up in that damn infirmary I've had either you, Teal'c or Daniel beside me. It just doesn't seem right that he's in pain and he's gotta lie by himself wondering what the hell is going on."

"I know. It's tearing me up too. C'mon. The sooner we see Hammond the sooner we can go and bug Daniel." Sam said.

xxxxx

"With all due respect Sir, that's crap."

Both Sam and Teal'c looked at Jack quickly. Neither of them had ever gotten used to the way Colonel Jack O'Neill would just blurt whatever was on his mind to his commanding officer and they knew if Jack was under anyone but Hammond and less brilliant at his job he would have been out of the Air Force on his ear a long time ago. General Hammond, as usual, took Jack's outburst with good grace and a sigh of exasperation.

"I understand how you feel Colonel, I truly do. Dr. Jackson has been a valued member of the SGC for 7 years but after reading Potter's report and being assured by Major Carter -" Jack looked quickly at Sam who looked away "- that she agrees with his findings, I just can't risk it."

"So you're gonna put him away like a criminal."

"Don't be so dramatic Jack." Hammond snapped. "He's going to be restricted to base until we can be _sure_ there's been no adverse affects from his exposure to the Sarcophagus. What with the Goua'ld capable of creating sleeper agents out of a Tok'ra as old as Martouf, and being able to place bombs in little girls, that damn box could have been rigged to do anything. We just can't take the risk. I'm not willing to jeopardise this facility and _you_ shouldn't be either." Hammond sat back in his chair. "We've sent word to the Tok'ra and they advised they would send someone as soon as possible to assist Doctor Frasier with any tests they deem necessary."

"Sir, I don't-"

"Colonel, the Tok'ra have a lot more experience with the kinds of intrigues the Goua'ld are capable of. You remember they didn't actually tell us about the Zaytarks until we had one take out a member of their council. I'm sure there's a whole bunch of ways the Goua'ld have of messing with us that the Tok'ra haven't deemed it necessary to divulge."

"General Hammond is correct O'Neill." Teal'c chimed in. "I believe there are many ways that the Goua'ld have developed to infiltrate their enemies. Although I too also hope that DanielJackson will make a full recovery, for the time being we cannot trust that outward appearance is a definitive sign that he is wholly who he once was."

"I know." Jack grumbled. "Just pisses me off is all."

xxxxx

"Okay, so I'm not actually in a cell, but I _do_ have armed guards on the door. I may be in the VIP room but there's still something not right here." Daniel was sitting on the double bed in the VIP room on one of the upper floors of the SGC. He was still dressed in the loose white pants and shirt of a patient and was looking at his slipper -clad feet with consternation. Janet had other work to do, but just couldn't leave Daniel alone until the rest of SG1 were free to come and keep him company. They'd been in their meeting with General Hammond a long time.

She had been looking at Daniel with the eyes of a Doctor, but she let herself shift mentally so she could regard him as a friend. He wasn't acting any different than normal. He was a little irritable but she thought that was understandable since no one had explained to him what was actually happening and why he was being kept under guard. He knew he'd been in a Sarcophagus but hadn't been told anything further since coming around the second time.

He looked tired and a little drawn and she'd almost lost him. There'd been a few minutes where she could have sworn that his body was actually _fighting_ to die. She couldn't explain where the idea had come from, but it wouldn't leave her. He'd been through so much trauma, though, that she thought it probably normal that he wasn't the fighter he once was.

"Can I at least have my glasses?" He asked, squinting at her comically. She smiled at him sadly. "No Daniel. They were…broken." She couldn't believe she'd just lied to _Daniel_. She didn't want to tell him, however, that Hammond had ordered any items removed from Daniel's immediate vicinity that he could use to harm himself. The frustration of his situation probably had him not really taking in the fact that the VIP room was a lot barer than usual. Janet knew the Goua'ld were capable of planting self-destructive suggestions into humans and she was as worried as anyone. Daniel's glasses were currently sitting on her desk.

"Dammit, my spare pair is at my place. I'll get Jack to swing by and pick them up for me. Where are they anyway?"

"Hammond wanted a debrief. You know they'll be here the minute they're finished." Daniel's eyes swivelled to meet Janet's and she knew she was being too cheerful. She also knew Daniel could usually read people like one of his ancient tomes. He'd asked about SG1 so casually that it had caught her off guard for a second. There was a look on Daniel's face for a second that Janet didn't recognise, but it was gone as quickly as it appeared like a passing cloud.

"Janet, what's going on?" Daniel asked plainly, standing and crossing the room to her. Before she could stop herself, Janet took an involuntary step backward. Daniel stopped dead, hurt and confusion on his face. "Jesus, Janet. It's me." He said, running a hand through his hair. Janet could have kicked herself. She knew with that one little gesture of mistrust she had just made Daniel's fears about his situation about a million times worse. She smiled and crossed the room to him, putting a hand on his shoulder.

"I'm sorry Daniel. Jack, Sam and Teal'c will be here any second and I'm sure they have a better idea of what's going on. This is all just a precaution." She said, trying to reassure him.

"Precaution against what? What happened to me Janet?" Janet instinctively reached out and pulled Daniel into a hug, his voice so full on confusion and fear. She felt him relax against her and his arms tighten around her. They came up and he pulled back a little, hands cupping her face.

Janet was mere inches from Daniel's face and as she looked into his eyes her brow furrowed. They were the same blue orbs they'd always been, but there was something _missing_. Something she couldn't explain. Janet moved to step away from Daniel but his hands dropped to her throat, his thumbs gently pressing into her windpipe. Not choking her exactly but a promise that he could.

"Now where are you going?"


	6. The Question

Disclaimer - I do not own any of the characters or events portrayed in Stargate SG1 but I like them.

- Part 6 - The Question

Janet Frasier's vision had shrunk down to the handsome face inches from her own. A face she had known and loved for 7 years that she suspected now hid a monster. Certainly her friend Daniel would not be threatening to choke the life from her. The insistent press of his thumbs against her throat, while not cutting off her air, was succeeding in scaring her worse than anything she had ever experienced in her life.

Her mind was protesting at what was currently happening. The rational part of her was insistent that it _knew_ this man before her and he would _never _do something like this. There was a small part of her, however, that was insisting that she didn't know the man in front of her at all. Whatever had come back through the Stargate, carried in the arms of Jack O'Neill, was not Daniel Jackson.

She hoped that was the case anyway.

With all her being.

She opened her mouth to speak, to protest or reason she wasn't sure yet, but the thumbs pressed a tiny bit harder, enough to make breathing just a little difficult. "Oh no, no calling for help my pretty little Doctor." The voice was Daniel's, but different. There was an inflection that was completely alien. What was throwing her was the smell of him. A mixture of old books and clean linen, the way Daniel always smelled, such a familiar and comforting thing. This close, it filled her senses and she thought it horrible and evil to be threatened by the one person she had thought actually incapable of ever hurting her.

The muzzle of a revolver entered her narrowed field of vision, bumping up against Daniel's temple and there was the unmistakable click-snick of a safety being thumbed off.

"Let her go."

The voice was cold but familiar. Janet dared not turn her head to confirm who she thought it was but there was a string of beads around the right wrist that she recognised.

A lazy smile spread across Daniel's face and his eyes never left hers. "Hey Jack." He greeted as he had thousands of other times. It pained Janet to hear it because it was so normal and the position they were currently in wasn't. Daniel's hands around her throat and Jack's gun against Daniel's temple.

"I'm not going to say it again. The next sound you hear will be a very loud bang." Jack's tone was still clear and level but Janet could sense the rage barely contained underneath like a palpable thing. She'd only seen Jack angry a few times and it had always scared and worried her before. She knew from this day forward the sound of Jack being angry would be a comfort as she now knew it came from a protective place rather than a hostile place.

"I can snap her neck faster than you can pull that trigger." Daniel's calm tone matched Jacks and Janet felt like screaming. She wanted away from Daniel and out of that room. Out of the damn _mountain_ at that point.

"You do and you die."

"Are you sure I care?" Daniel's gaze finally swung from Janet to meet Jack's. His eyes darkened and a smirk pulled the corner of his mouth. Jack matched him with a wry grin of his own which didn't reach his eyes. "Thing about alien crap coming through the Stargate, always fights tooth and nail to survive… if it has teeth and nails. I'm figuring you're no different." Jack's grin dropped. Janet sensed he was waiting, probably for the thing masquerading as Daniel to process what it had just been told.

She felt the pressure on her throat ease off and then disappear altogether. Daniel's hands opened wide enough for Janet to step backwards. She did, rubbing her neck almost as if she could rub away the feeling of his hands. "Step away." Jack instructed. With a grunt of amusement, Daniel lifted his palms in a placating gesture and stepped backwards until his back was up against the wall behind him.

"Carter?" Jack barked and Janet looked around, startled to find Sam was in the room as well. Sam came forward quickly, gesturing to Daniel that he should hold his hands out, wrists together. He did so and she bound them, trusting that Jack was covering her and would shoot if Daniel tried anything.

She stepped back and looked sideways at Jack, who had not let his gaze wonder from the man in front of him for a second. "Not a Gou'ld sir." She said quietly. She'd been close enough to sense the presence of a symbiote but there had been nothing. There was a disturbing _nothingness_ to Daniel.

"Aaaah… it would be much easier if I _was_ just some, how did you put it, alien crap, wouldn't it?" Daniel smiled. He had an almost jovial air about him, as if he were just chatting to friends. It was unnerving all three of the other people in the room. Jack hadn't lowered his gun but there was a slight tremor radiating through it. Daniel crossed the room in two quick strides and came up against the muzzle of the gun pointed towards him, the business end connecting with his chest with a solid thump. Janet had seen Jack's hands tighten and knew he had probably almost shot Daniel out of reflex.

"Go ahead Jack." He said. "Shoot me if you're _sure_ I'm not really your friend."

"Step back." Jack ground out. Sam's hand had strayed to her sidearm but she hadn't pulled it out. Her expression was one of horrified fascination, as if she were witnessing a terrible accident. Daniel's hand came up and one finger touched the underside of the gun, tilting it up so it was pointed in his face. Janet saw an expression she'd never seen on Jack O'Neill's face before.

Uncertainty.

"Or just maybe I'm all that's left of the Daniel you knew. Lost my wife, my own _life_ a bunch if times. That's enough to render any man a little tetchy. Jack, you _know_ what its like to be killed and brought back over and over and over again. Despite that, you did it to _me. _Someone who you claimed was your friend. Tell me Jack, " Daniel smiled the light little grin he always would when he knew he was going to win an argument with Jack. That in itself made Janet's hear hurt.

"Did you save _me_ or did you save yourselves from dealing with me dying again?"


	7. Realisation

She finally found him in the locker room after searching the base for three hours. He'd disappeared right after their confrontation with Daniel and although she had wanted to make sure he was alright, she had first made sure Janet was put safely into a car to be taken home. Sam had wanted to take Janet home herself but Janet had insisted that she was fine and that Sam should make sure Jack was too.

He was sitting on the bench facing the locker with the nameplate Jackson. Daniel's locker was bordered on either side by Teal'c's and Jack's own. Always in the middle, always surrounded, always protected. That was Daniel.

Jack had his M9 out and was thumbing the safety on and off, on and off.

Click-snick.

Click-snick.

_Click-Snick._

He had obviously started getting dressed to do some training. He had on his loose tracksuit pants and was stripped down to a black singlet. He'd managed to get on one sneaker but the other lay by his foot, forgotten. Sam would have laughed if he didn't have the gun in his hand.

She opened her mouth, but was at a loss what to say. She knew Jack was hurting, badly, but she didn't know how to start fixing whatever was wrong. She closed her mouth with a snap, took a breath, but before she could try again he spoke.

"I almost shot him." Jack's voice was hollow. Sam felt relieved because his actions had been perfectly reasonable and she could reassure Jack. "Sir, he was advancing on you. It's amazing you _didn't_ shoot him." She said, dropping down on the bench next to him and resting a hand on his shoulder. Jack's shoulders slumped a little more and he sighed. "No, not then. When he said… what he said. When the gun was pointed in his face. I was so…_angry._ I was so goddam pissed because I'm scared he's right."

"Sir?"

"What he said…it's true isn't it?" Jack's voice was bitter and he looked up at her, his normally brown eyes almost black with emotion. "I wanted to save him for _me_… not for him."

Sam realised that this Daniel, no matter what he was, whether alien or just damaged, was worse than any Gou'ld they had ever faced. He knew just how to hurt them. Daniel had always possessed the greatest capacity of all of them to comfort, to say just the right thing to take the pain away. Apparently he now knew the exact right thing to say to put it back in.

Sam had seen Jack with bones broken, bloody and barely conscious. She had never seen him looking so utterly _destroyed_. An icy knife of fear traced down her spine as she wondered where the gun Jack held would have ended up if she hadn't found him. She let her hands trace down Jack's arms slowly until they were over the hands that were clutching his gun. She pried his fingers loose and took the gun free, placing it on the bench next to her.

"I just couldn't…" Jack's voice was barely a whisper and Sam realised with a strat that his whole body was shaking. She turned back to him and put her arms around him. He collapsed into her and let himself be held. He didn't cry, which she had been expecting, but his whole body was wracked with tremors. They died off slowly as she grasped him more closely. It reminder her of when he had been taken out of cryo freeze and had been so cold that all he could do was hold onto her until his shivering subsided. This shaking was from a coldness within him.

She held him just as tightly.

xxxxx

"Hi Sam."

His greeting was as bright as if she were walking into his office to ask him to go to lunch, not walking into his cell. Sam was saddened by the thought that even if they _did_ get the real Daniel back, things might never be the same. She didn't think she would ever be able to get the image of Daniel throttling Janet out of her mind and the calm, almost cheerful expression he'd been wearing when he'd been doing it.

General Hammond had been reluctant to give permission to Sam to see Daniel again after what happened to Janet. She'd assured him that she would have a weapon and not be worried about using it if it came to that. Just calling up the image of Jack in the locker room would wipe an reservations she had about shooting _this_ Daniel with a zat from her mind.

Hammond had been speaking with the pentagon and was trying to stave off Area 51's demands to have Daniel shipped to them for study. The last thing she'd heard Hammond say as she was leaving his office was 'He's a person, not a damn lab experiment and you'll need to get the President himself to personally order me to hand him over before it will happen, and even then you'll have a fight on your hands."

She made sure Daniel could see the weapon when she entered the room and he smiled and nodded slightly when he noticed it. His hands were still bound but the band Sam had bound them with had been replaced with a chain which looped around his wrists and connected with another chain that looped between his ankles. He was effectively hobbled and couldn't move very quickly or very far. Sam swallowed the sympathy at seeing Daniel trussed that way and shunted the feeling aside by calling up again the image of him strangling a defenceless Janet, and how Janet had looked afterward.

"So, what's up Doc?" He asked, shuffling over to lean on the far wall. Sam lowered herself into the only chair in the room and rested the zat gun on her knee, pointing towards Daniel. "No, let me guess. You guys are still trying to figure out if there's a chance to get the old Daniel back right?"

"Something like that."

"Can't get it through your thick skulls that I _am_ actually Daniel. I might be a little _different_ but there's no symbiote, no alternate self. I'm the only Daniel you're ever going to have and you guys are going to have to learn to live with that."

"Maybe."

"No maybe about it. Christ. There's no more Mr Nice Guy. I'm all that's left." Daniel had been so calm up to now about everything but Sam thought she detected the first traces of impatience. He'd stepped away from the wall as he'd been speaking and she could see his fists clenching.

"Won't be up to us soon. Area 51 want you sent over for study." Sam said, but then froze. She'd seen something flitter across Daniel's face. It had only been for a split second, but it'd been there. It was a look of triumph. He'd just been told something he wanted to hear. Sam rose slowly. "But that's what you want isn't it? You walked into a gun before and provoked Jack. He nearly shot you and I think you _wanted_ him to."

Daniel moved faster than Sam had thought possible. There was the sound of a chain snapping and he was on her. Sam felt pain explode through her jaw as he landed a solid punch. The zat gun had been by her side and she didn't have a chance to bring it up and fire as the momentum of Daniel flinging himself across the room drove them both to the floor. She felt another solid blow connect and a searing pain exploded behind her eye. "Call for help." She heard Daniel grind out as he smacked her again and the military part of Sam's mind assessed the situation. He had her pinned and he'd had a few seconds of surprise to punch her pretty solidly but he'd pulled his blows. He'd hit her hard enough to draw blood and make her think he meant business but not hard enough to actually knock her out.

She dimly heard the door to the cell open and the sound of Airmen pulling weapons. She could see through a foggy haze that Daniel was smiling in anticipation. Although they'd been struggling, he'd pinned her by sitting on her chest and so both Airmen who had come through the door would have a clear shot at him.

"No!" Sam shrieked. She brought one long leg up and around, hooking it over Daniel's neck. He hadn't been expecting it and the momentum slammed him forward. She heard his forehead connect solidly with the floor and he cursed. She too rolled with the momentum and was across Daniel's back, effectively pinning him to the carpet before he could get up.

"We can't kill him." She huffed. "I'm not sure why, but that's what he wants."


	8. Near Miss

Disclaimer - I do not own Stargate SG1 or its characters or events portrayed, I just borrow them for stories.

Part 8 - Near Miss

Something had been bothering Janet since leaving the SGC. So much so that she tossed the bed covers aside that had been so carefully tucked around her by a very concerned Cassie, had gotten dressed, and was halfway back to the mountain before she could have second thoughts.

When she'd arrived she'd learned about Sam's attack and had gone straight to the infirmary, all other thoughts and concerns temporarily wiped from her mind. Sam had been shaken and bruised but otherwise okay. Janet had been swabbing the cut above Sam's eye, listening to Sam describe what had happened when she remembered why she had come back.

"You said you thought he was _pulling _his punches? Like he could've really hurt you but he didn't?" Janet repeated, letting what Sam had told her sort itself out in her brain and compare with what had happened to her. Sam winced from the antiseptic applied to her fresh cut before nodding carefully. "Daniel's no where near as weedy as he once was. I'm fit but he could have laid me out with one good blow if he'd wanted to. He took me by surprise." Janet was used to being a sounding board when Sam was trying to work things out in her mind but what Sam was saying made things fit into place better for _her_ this time.

"That's what I was wondering." Janet said, a faraway look in her eye. Sam looked up at her friend, puzzled. "Janet?" She prompted, sensing that what Janet would reveal was important to her working out just what the hell was going on. 'Well, I know you and Colonel O'Neill were in that room pretty fast, but Daniel had me alone for at least a few minutes. I was so shocked that I didn't even call for help." Janet shook her head. "I know that was stupid, but the thing is, Daniel said he could have snapped my neck. He had plenty of time to do it before you and the Colonel arrived." Janet shivered. "I think he actually would have had enough time to choke my slowly come to think of it."

Sam felt gooseflesh break out over her skin at the thought, but she knew Janet was just trying to sort through her memory of the incident and she let her get to her point without interruption. "The thing is…it would certainly have _looked_ like he was strangling me when you two came in, but he wasn't." Janet met Sam's gaze. "Do you think he could've been just toying with us?"

"Possibly. I'm banged up pretty good but nowhere near as badly as I should have been." Sam agreed. "It just doesn't seem to serve any purpose. I had this crazy idea that Daniel was trying to get us to _kill_ him."

"Maybe…" Janet began, again lost in thought. Sam reached out and touched her shoulder gently, bringing her out of her reverie. "It's stupid." Janet shook her head but Sam grabbed her arm when she went to move away. "First thing I learned from Colonel O'Neill, never dismiss your instincts." Sam prompted.

"I was just thinking when we were working on Daniel when he first came back… I got the sense that he was fighting me… fighting to die. Maybe there is a little of the old Daniel still in there. Enough to stop himself throttling me and beating you too badly. Enough to try and get himself killed before he can succeed in hurting any of us."

"Enough to try and contact?" Sam had an idea and was up and out of the infirmary, Janet trailing after her.

xxxxx

"So how many times have you screwed her?" The question was met with a solid, meaty thump which was Jack O'Neill's fist connecting with Daniel's jaw. Sam jumped, the punch taking her by surprise. Daniel was laughing however. "If the real Daniel is in there, he'll forgive me that one." Jack spat.

"C'mon Jack. I know you may not be allowed to _officially_ jump her bones, but I'm sure you've had her up against the lockers more than once." Daniel's gaze had shifted to Sam and he smiled lazily. Jack clenched his fist and leaned forward. "Sir." Sam admonished. "You're giving it what it wants."

"If he wants another smack in the mouth I'm happy to oblige." Jack growled, but he stepped back. Daniel was looking at Sam still. "I'm an 'it' now am I? Wow… detaching yourself so you can ship me off to be dissected. Samantha Carter, when did you get so cold and clinical?" Daniel sighed dramatically. "Oh that's right. You always have been. I can't remember who told me, but I seem to recall that you were more worried about losing your access to the precious Naquadir when I got radiation poisoning than me."

Sam made a small, hurt sound. She'd been right. This Daniel really knew how to stick the knife in and twist. She tried to tell herself that _their_ Daniel would never have thought something like that, but was he right? She mentally shook herself. She was falling into the same trap as Jack had, letting Daniel twist a situation around to suit his own means. Jack's hand had stayed to his sidearm and Sam suspected he wasn't even aware of it. Daniel's gaze swivelled to Jack. _He_ knew and she almost could almost _see_ the realisation dawn on Daniel that pushing her wasn't going to get him anywhere.

Pushing Jack however…

"So honestly Jack, how does it feel to bend Carter over Hammond's big desk and -" Daniel didn't get to finish the thought. Jack had his M9 out in an instant and it was all Sam could do to jump sideways, knocking the gun off target. The bang of it going off in the tiny room left Sam's ears ringing. Through the haze she heard Jack breathing harshly, repeating 'Jesus' over and over again. He'd let his gun drop to the floor and had backed away, pressing his hands to his temples.

Two Airmen had appeared in the doorway, weapons drawn. Sam turned to them. "Stand down, everything's fine." She said. They both looked wary but nodded and backed out of the room. Sam turned back to Daniel, who was blinking owlishly, consternation apparent on his face. Sam turned and hustled Jack out of the room.

"Christ Carter." Jack breathed. "What the hell did I just do?"

"You missed Sir." She said.


	9. Time is of the Essence

Disclaimer – The characters and events portrayed in Stargate SG1 are not owned by me but I borrow them for stories. No money changes hands, swear to the deity you believe in.

Part 9 – Time Is Of The Essence

"I'm afraid we're out of time."

General Hammond looked at the dismayed faces around him of his most trusted team and although he could empathise with their feeling on the subject, he had run out of options. He called in favours, had run political circles and even threatened but nothing had allowed him to put a stop to the orders now on his desk.

"We have to surrender both Doctor Jackson and the recovered Sarcophagus when the team arrives from Area 51."

"But Sir." Sam protested. "With Teal'c's assistance – " Teal'c inclined his head in agreement. "We were going to try and reach Daniel. Both Janet and I believe there is something of the old Daniel left, trapped maybe. We _have_ to try and reach him."

"I'm sorry Major, I know how hard this must be for you, quite frankly how hard it is for me, but we've been given no choice in the matter. The scientists at Area 51 aren't the bad guys. They might find a way to help Doctor Jackson."

"For cryin' out loud General, the last thing they care about is _helping_ Daniel. They're going to dissect him." Jack had never believed in being polite and tactful when truth would put his point across just as well. He saw Hammond wince and knew the thought had occurred to the General also.

Hammond had thought about the possibility that they would not be getting back Daniel in one piece and while it unsettled him, the very presence of Daniel Jackson had started to worry him worse. Daniel had managed to attack two members of the SGC while bound and incarcerated. He was now drugged as well as bound but Hammond wasn't sure if that was any guarantee that he wouldn't be able to hurt anyone else. Although Hammond hated to admit it, he knew he would breathe easier with Daniel Jackson out of his Mountain.

"Colonel O'Neill, I think we all have to face up to the possibility that we lost Doctor Jackson back on PX3-426." Hammond said. He hadn't meant for the statement to come out so cold but it was something they would have to deal with. He was worried about how Jack was dealing with everything. It had been the Colonel's decision to place Daniel in the Sarcophagus and even though anyone else would have done the same given the circumstances, Hammond knew Jack had a habit of letting guilt eat at him until there was nothing left.

"At least give us a few more hours Sir." Sam pleaded. Although Daniel had hurt her worse than anyone, although Sam wondered if that were necessarily true when she glanced across at Jack and saw the dark circles under his eyes, she still loved Daniel and wouldn't give up on him so easily. Not when there was even the slightest chance that they could save him.

"It's not up to me Major Carter. We have our orders and believe me, they come from the very top. The minute the team from Area 51 arrives we're to hand over Doctor Jackson and the Gou'ld Sarcophagus."

Jack, Sam and Teal'c glanced at each other. They could read between the lines. Hammond was telling them he would give them until the scientists showed up and if they wanted to try anything, they had to do it _now_. Jack nodded and flicked his head sideways, indicating the other members of his team should follow him out of the office.

They didn't have much time.

xxxxxx

"MAJOR CARTER TO THE LABS" a voice boomed over the loudspeaker. Sam, Jack and Teal'c were on their way to Teal'c's quarters and Sam sighed. "You guys go ahead. I'll be as quick as possible." She said, veering to the corridor on her left which led to the science labs. Her own lab was one floor up but she suspected Potter had asked for her.

She arrived at the science lab and hovered in the doorway. Potter had the Sarcophagus still in pieces and was crashing around the lab, obviously irritated or distraught, Sam wasn't sure which. His hair was sticking up in snags and snarls and as she watched she saw him running his hands through it. "Potter?"

Potter jumped, startled. He whipped around and saw Sam in the doorway and his agitation cranked up a notch. "They're shipping it out." He said and by his tone Sam realised he was more upset than annoyed which is what she would have expected. "Potter, calm down." She said, stepping into the room, mindful of the various pieces of Gou'ld technology scattered about. "Do you not know how to put it back together?"

Potter finally stopped his relentless pacing and sighed. "Of course I know how to put it back together. That's not what I was worried about."

"Potter, I don't have time for guessing games." Sam threatened. She regretted her harsh tone immediately when she saw the hurt look on Potter's face. She'd treated people harshly before when a member of her team…when Jack, was on the line and she'd promised she would never do it again. She smiled, trying to disarm the tension in the room. Potter still looked pained and Sam finally realised that he was more agitated than she had ever seen him. He had always had a quiet, almost cocky assurance to him and it had been wiped away in a few short hours.

"I was wrong about the Sarcophagus and now they're coming to take it." He said. He crouched down on the floor and dropped his head into his hands. "I was wrong and they think it was just booby trapped and so they're coming to get it and Doctor Jackson."

"Potter, please!" Sam couldn't be patient no matter how much she wanted to tread carefully. She could feel the time they had to try and figure out what had happened to Daniel slipping away from her like sand through her fingers. Potter stood and faced her, a part of the Sarcophagus retrieved from the floor and being turned over and over in his hands.

"I just assumed they'd sabotaged the thing when they were under attack, but they've never _done_ that before have they?" Potter didn't wait for Sam to confirm his suspicions before ploughing on. He'd sensed time was of the essence and now he was rushing. "They always make sure they have the Sarcophagus' evacuated with them. There just aren't that many around and a Gou'ld probably knows they just can't get their hands on them anywhere, especially a System Lord on the run.

"They took the time to sabotage the thing when they could've been loading it onto the ship they escaped in. It wasn't making sense to me so I started trying to figure out just what they'd done. They hadn't broken anything like I thought, they'd _rerouted_ stuff."

"Wait, what are you talking about?" Sam asked, starting to get a little lost in Potter's thought process. He'd obviously had a lot more time to think things out than she had to absorb it. He held the piece of the Sarcophagus that he'd been toying with in front of Sam's eyes. "This was the key. I thought it was a piece that was broken because it didn't really _fit _where it had been put." Potter moved over to his desk and started rifling through layers of paper until he came up with a large glossy photo. "I remembered seeing it before though. It was in a photo from a bunch taken of the Mothership we'd captured." Potter held up the object against the photo. Sam blinked at it.

The photo was taken of a part of the shield generator for the Mothership. It took Sam a second to realise what Potter was getting at.

"I think the Gou'ld rigged the Sarcophagus to trap something inside." Potter said, watching the appalled expression dawn on Sam's face at just what that meant. "Something that would have still been in there when Doctor Jackson was put in." Potter continued. "Something so important or so threatening that the Gou'ld would sacrifice a Sarcophagus just to trap it."


	10. Desperate Measures

Disclaimer – I do not own the characters and events portrayed in Stargate SG1. They're just on loan.

Part 10 – Desperate Measures

She felt like she was running through water, like she was running away from something in a nightmare and she just couldn't move fast enough. The corridors of the SGC have never felt so long, so twisted and convoluted. She fought the worry that the time she had wasted with Potter would be too much. She smacked herself mentally. She hadn't _wasted_ any time with Potter. What he'd told her was more important than anything else. She was running to Hammond's office, hoping that the discovery she had made would mean that they couldn't move either Daniel or the Sarcophagus.

Losing either of them would probably spell the end of any hope for saving Daniel.

Sam skidded to a halt in front just at the corner of the corridor leading to Hammond's office. She could see a couple of men in uniform and two in suits that were looking uncomfortable that just had to be the scientists from Area 51. They were being ushered inside, Hammond greeting them and attempting to make small talk, probably trying to stall for time, Sam realised.

She turned on her heel and ran back the other way, heading for Teal'c's quarters where Jack and Teal'c probably were, wondering where the hell she had gotten to. Sam barrelled in the door and almost sent a row of candles flying. Teal'c and Jack both looked up at her with surprise. "The Area 51 guys are here." Sam said, fighting for breath.

"Already?" Jack grunted in annoyance. He was sitting cross-legged in front of Teal'c and was rubbing his knees absently. The position was probably hell on them, Sam thought vaguely. "We can't let them take him." Sam said.

"Carter, I don't think we have a choice." Jack's voice was resigned and Teal'c inclined his head in agreement, a pained expression apparent on his normally stoic features. Sam threw up her hands in exasperation. "No, you don't understand. We _can't_ let them take him." She said.

"I don't see how we can stop them." Jack finally gave up trying to sit on the floor comfortably and rose, groaning when his knees popped loudly. Teal'c also stood, a margin more smoothly. "What are you proposing Major Carter?" Teal'c asked. Sam sighed, rubbing a hand through her hair. She hadn't exactly come up with a _plan_ as yet; she was hoping that the ever-resourceful Jack would be able to fill in that part.

"You just have to trust me. We need to get both Daniel and the Sarcophagus out of the Mountain. I don't have time to explain." She looked at the two men in front of her, one an alien and one an aging Colonel and two of the four most important men she had ever had in her life. The other two were her father and Daniel himself.

Teal'c and Jack looked at each other, and then back at Sam. "Okay." Jack said simply and Teal'c nodded his assent. Sam blinked, having been prepared for arguments or reasoning. She realised that Jack and Teal'c were as desperate to save Daniel as she was and didn't need much prompting. "You realise this might end in court-martial and expulsion from the SGC program, probably the Air Force too." Sam said. Teal'c simply nodded and Jack took his lead, mutely nodding as well.

"Good deal. Just so we're all clear." Jack grinned, clapping his hands together.

xxxxx

Daniel had been drugged but Doctor Janet Frasier wasn't buying his possum act. She had seen him tear through restraints like they were paper and although the chains now crossing his body were more heavy-duty; she just didn't trust that he wouldn't be up and across the room in seconds, if given half a chance.

She watched him from the other side of the room, the door behind her propped open by one foot, ready to retreat if he made any sudden moves. Two armed Air Men stood guard outside and had looked at her warily as she had entered the room, but their orders had been to make sure Daniel could not leave, they had not been ordered to keep anyone else _out_.

He certainly _looked _asleep. Daniel was on his side on the single cot in his cell, hands curled up to his face and knees drawn up to his chest. Janet felt her heart hurt to see him like this, but she was also knew she had to start thinking the way Hammond had advised them, to treat this man like a stranger, an interloper that had taken on the form of a beloved friend. Janet sighed aloud. "I know you're awake." She said, impatience in her tone. Although she had assumed he could hear her, it still surprised her a little when he cracked one eye open to regard her. Daniel had been pumped full of enough drugs to bring down three men, all twice his size, yet the single blue eye that regarded her wasn't even glazed.

"The pretty Doctor." He breathed and Janet felt icy tendrils of fear creep up her spine. His other eye opened and Daniel sat up awkwardly, the chains clinking softly. He looked dishevelled and tired, but still strong. "Pretty, pretty Doctor." He said again, smiling at her. A crazy urge to scream at him to stop using Daniel's smile gripped her and she had to bear down on the door handle behind her to squash it. He was using the absent, affectionate smile he usually treated Sam or Janet to when he was busy working but either of them needed to pull him out of his reverie. Janet realised with a pang that she could probably name each of Daniel Jackson's smiles and what he used them for.

Daniel swung his feet onto the floor and stood as much as the chains allowed, which was a kind of lopsided-stoop. He looked at Janet sideways, more of a smirk on his face than a smile. "What did you want pretty Doctor? Round two? Got jealous that I was more _physical_ with Samantha? Take these chains off and I'll show you a good time."

The voice was Daniel's but the words coming out were not. Janet had to keep telling herself that _her_ Daniel always treated her with affection and respect. The _thing_ in front of her was a travesty and she should stop thinking of it with the name of the man she had loved for a long time. "I've got your good time right here." Janet said and brought the zat gun out from her lab coat. Daniel's eyes widened when he saw it but she didn't hesitate. She shot him once, hoping that despite his resilience to human drugs, he would still be susceptible to the effects of the Gou'ld weapon. He dropped heavily onto the floor with a cry of surprise. Through Janet's harsh breathing she heard the sounds of zats outside the room being fired and then Jack was in the room behind her.

"Way to go Doc." He said and squeezed her shoulder. He noticed Janet was gripping the zat and her hand was shaking. She was still pointing it at the now-still form of the man on the floor. Jack carefully removed the weapon from her outstretched hand and she didn't protest. "Why don't you just give me that?" He said carefully.

Sam and Teal'c appeared behind them, Teal'c dragging the unconscious Air Men behind him so they would not be discovered too quickly. Janet looked up quickly. "So how do you think you're going to get Daniel and the Sarcophagus out of the Mountain?" She asked, not really clear on that part of the plan. Jack gave her one of his patented devil-may-care grins.

"We're not." He said.


	11. Talking to the Dead

Disclaimer – I do not own any part of Stargate SG1 but I borrow them for stories. Don't sue me. All you will get is a three-year-old Mac and a dirty look.

Part 11 – Talking to the Dead.

Potter was looking frazzled, but he was smiling. He was standing in front of the Sarcophagus in the storage room on a disused level of the SGC and was grinning like a loon. The reason being that Teal'c was carrying an unconscious Daniel into the room, followed by Sam, Jack and Janet.

"You brought all your notes down?" Sam asked, in lieu of a greeting. He smiled and nodded. "Good, make yourself scarce then." She said, flicking her head towards the door. Potter looked hurt. ""I'm going to stay and hel-"

"You're going to go back to your labs kid, and make a lot of noise about someone storming them and stealing the Sarcophagus." Jack said, all business. Potter looked to Sam, wanting to help, but he knew it was a lost cause. He nodded and left the room.

"What now?" Jack asked. Sam gathered Potter's notes and schematics off the desk at the side of the room and started sorting through them. Klaxons started sounding and all in the room knew they were for them. Jack turned to Janet. "You should get out of here too." He said. The small woman set her jaw and looked Jack in the eye.

"You're not getting rid of me that easy Colonel." She snapped. Jack smiled and squeezed her shoulder. Janet had surprised him repeatedly over the last few days and he was pleased to find out that she was tougher than any Drill Sergeant he had come up against. "Fair enough." He nodded. She crossed the room to where Teal'c had lowered Daniel to the floor and was checking his vitals with quiet efficiency. She looked back toward them. "His heart rate is picking up. He's going to come around any minute." She said.

"This might take me a while to figure out. You guys are going to have to find a way to barricade us in here, just in case they realise we didn't try to _leave_ the Mountain." Sam said, crouching down in front of the Sarcophagus and spreading the notes around her. Nobody had ever really been in a position to study a working Sarcophagus before, let alone one that had been modified in the way the one before her had. She had no idea how the Gou'ld had been able to splice part of their shield technology onto the machine. She was fascinated and wished she were studying what had been done under better circumstances, not when someone's life was at risk.

"Plenty of time Carter." Jack said jovially. He'd known about the unused storage space because he had used it to sneak a few illicit smokes. He knew the security camera system wasn't hooked up and not very many people even knew of its existence. Still, he nodded to Teal'c and they both went about the job of securing the area so if they were found Sam would have as much time as possible to do… he didn't actually know _what_ she was doing.

"You promised to fill us in about what's really going on." Jack prompted, hefting a large, heavy table with Teal'c towards the room's only door. He could hear Sam still shuffling papers and starting to remove panels from the Sarcophagus' side. "Potter discovered that the Gou'ld hadn't actually booby trapped the Sarcophagus Sir. He thinks that the Gou'ld actually used it to trap something inside. Something that was in there when we used it on Daniel." She said, being mindful to use the term _we_. She knew, despite this, Jack would probably think '_when I put him in'. _

She heard a grunt and a quietly spoken curse.

"Sirs?" Janet's voice was worried and Sam looked toward her. She had her head pressed to Daniel's chest. She'd left her stethoscope in her office and hadn't thought twice about dropping her head onto his chest to listen to his heartbeat. Sam saw Daniel's hand twitch. "Janet!" She cried, too late.

Daniel's arm came up faster than Janet could react and he had the chain around her throat that was binding his wrists to his ankles. He sat up so Janet was bodily between him and the others and tightened his grasp. Janet gasped in air. "And just what are we doing?" He asked. He let a finger trail down Janet's face and tilted her chin up so the others could see the chain pressing into the delicate flesh of her throat. Sam saw his gaze flicker to the Sarcophagus and for a split second she saw something she'd been waiting for.

Fear.

xxxx

"Janet." The voice was barely above a whisper and seemed to enter her mind directly. She closed her eyes, shutting out the concerned faces of the members of SG1 and concentrating on the voice. She felt the floor shift out from underneath her and suddenly she was standing in Daniel's office.

Daniel himself was sitting at his desk, the usual books and scrolls covering every spare inch of space. He had his glasses in hand and was rubbing the bridge of his nose. He looked up at her and smiled. "Janet." He breathed.

"Where am I?" Janet asked. She knew she was in Daniel's office but it didn't make any _sense_. Logically her mind knew she was being strangled in a tiny little storage room in the bowels of the SGC with her friends looking on so she was wondering just how she'd gotten _here. _

"I'm sorry, I pulled you out of there. The other me seems to have a habit of strangling you which I find a more than a little bit disturbing." He said.

"You and me both." Janet couldn't believe she was trying to make light of the situation. She thought she must've been going crazy. Daniel was smiling at her though. "I mean, you're still _there_ but I took your mind out… its complicated." He said. Janet just shook her head, not really caring.

"Where are _you_?" She asked.

"Ah, that's complicated too." He said. Janet just looked at him. Daniel nodded. "Alright. I died." He said. Janet made a small noise of shock and Daniel held up his hands, urging her to hear him out. "What I mean is, I died before I hit the floor. Staff blast to the chest will do that. I know, I'm speaking from experience."

"Anyway, I was on my way out and getting dragged back in by the Sarcophagus. Back into my body. I fought it because I was _tired of it_ Janet." He said, his eyes telling more about his sadness than he ever could. "A small part of me was dragged back in, but in the meantime the rest of my body was taken by the previous resident of the Sarcophagus." Daniel explained. "Anubis wasn't the first or last being to Ascend and be thrust down again. I was expelled and made it all the way back to the physical world because Oma was watching over me. Anubis was forced to exist in a plane between the two states of being. The creature in the Sarcophagus was like Anubis." Janet's mouth dropped open in horror at the thought.

"The problem is, there was a part of me left behind and I'm stuck too." Daniel had gotten up from the table and crossed the room to the small doctor. His hands rose and tangled into her hair. Janet sighed, feeling his clever fingers stroke her skin beneath. "But if you kill that bastard, he'll just take another body. Its what he's wanted all along, his only means of escape. He's been trying to get someone to _kill_ him and I don't have much influence over my body, only a little. I've been trying to stop him whenever he tries to get himself killed. When he was threatening you the first time, he was hoping an Air Man would come in and shoot him and he could jump straight into your body."

Daniel's hands dropped down to the back of Janet's neck and rested there. "The problem is, if he jumps into one of you guys, it will be just like being taken over by a Gou'ld. You'll be aware but unable to stop whatever he does to you." Daniel's hands circled Janet's throat and she was vaguely aware again of the pressure there. "The only chance is to get the Sarcophagus working again like the Gou'ld did."

"But how will you get out?" Janet's voice was hoarse.

"I won't. As soon as you do that, I'll let go of any remaining ties to my body. I'll be done."

"No." Janet whispered, feeling tears spilling down her cheeks.

"You know it's the only way." Daniel said. He smiled, brushing a kiss to her lips and she could feel the floor beneath her tilting again. "I've lived on borrowed time since my first trip to Abydos." Daniel said, his voice growing fainter. "Ask Jack."

With a start Janet was back in the storage room, being held as a hostage by the creature that was inhabiting Daniel. Sam, Jack and Teal'c were all yelling for it to let her go. Jack had out his service revolver and she could hear Daniel laughing, the feel of it reverberating through her back which was pressed against his chest. She knew Jack would fire, killing Daniel and the creature would jump to her, and none of them would know.

Janet felt downwards and made a small sound of triumph as she felt the comforting lump of the zat gun in her lab coat pocket. She pulled it free. She knew since Daniel was pressed up against her she only had one shot to disable him and make sure he wasn't killed in the process. She squeezed her eyes tight and put the zat's muzzle down on her leg. She heard Sam call her name and then she squeezed the trigger. She felt the chain around her neck go slack before she let the pain claim her into darkness.


	12. Out of Options

Disclaimer – I don't own the characters or events portrayed in Stargate SG1 but I borrow them for stories.

Part 12 – Out of Options

Carter looked like hell. Janet looked like hell. Teal'c was…well, Teal'c. He was sure he would look just as bad if there were a mirror he could look into, but there wasn't. They'd been barricaded in the small storage room for two days and he didn't know if Sam was any closer to getting the Sarcophagus working, as she had been forty-eight hours earlier. The only good thing was that they hadn't been found.

Yet.

Sam hadn't slept. Teal'c had briefly meditated but had no achieved full Kel'no'reem. Jack had found that he'd dropped off about four hours earlier and had only woken up when he'd dropped from his standing position to the floor. Talk about being asleep on your feet. Janet had fallen asleep about two hours earlier and he was glad. She looked haggard and drawn. She'd told them what Daniel had revealed to her and although it was hard to take in, they'd all decided it was the only course of action left to them. They would trap Daniel in the Sarcophagus and then hope to hell that they could come up with another way to save him.

Jack knew that none of them wanted to accept that trapping Daniel in the Sarcophagus would render any attempts to save him later as useless as there would be no _Daniel_

left to save.

They were all tired but fatigue wasn't the only thing that was currently breaking them. Nope, apparently Daniel thought that was his job.

He'd been relentless in turns attacking and cajoling them. Jack had given in to his baser impulses and had punched him out a few times, but he'd only ended up with bruised knuckles and a few minutes of respite at a time. It certainly made it a lot more bearable however. The only reason Janet had been able to sleep was because Daniel had been unusually quiet for the last two hours. Jack was starting to worry.

Teal'c was standing by the door, watching for discovery and ready to slam the door shut and push the heavy desk they had found against it to barricade them in. Sam was surrounded by pieces of Sarcophagus, taking it apart little by little and fixing it back together, getting up to test it every now and again and not finding it working to her satisfaction each time. Janet had been helping her until she had fallen asleep, right by Sam's side. As Jack glanced at them he saw Janet's brow crease and she stirred. Sam, not even looking at her, placed one hand on her shoulder and stroked soothingly until Janet settled.

Jack then looked towards Daniel. His impassive blue eyes looked back. He had a slight smile on his face and Jack felt the urge to punch him again. "We're going to fix the damn thing and then you're going in it." Jack said neutrally. Daniel snorted and looked towards Sam. "Oh, I've no doubt." He said, and Jack couldn't tell if he was being sarcastic or not. Daniel looked towards Teal'c by the door and then back to Jack. "You know you're not getting your little archaeologist back." He said, a statement, not a question.

"He's died more times than cat's have lives. He always finds a way back." Jack said, trying not to rise to the bait. He was a self-professed hothead and this was one of the few times he truly regretted it. He couldn't keep his cool like Teal'c or detach like Carter. "Except this time he's already gone. He fled this body like a coward." Daniel said.

"Oh, I don't know about that."

"Its true. I've searched and there's nothing of him left." Daniel smiled in satisfaction but his smile slipped when he saw that Jack wasn't paying attention to him. Instead he was watching Carter. He'd worked with her a long time and could recognise when she was in the final stages of figuring something out. She would get a glint in her eye and start working faster. Her hands were now deftly placing parts back into the Sarcophagus and they were fitting like jigsaw pieces. Daniel also glanced at Sam and his eyes went hard and flinty.

"Sir-" Sam started but Jack was up on his feet before she could continue with a little exclamation of triumph. "I knew you'd get it." He said, crossing the room to ruffle her hair. Janet stirred and woke, looking blearily at both of them. "You got it?" She asked. Sam looked down at her and nodded.

Nobody noticed amid their triumph Daniel also rise to a standing position. Teal'c caught a flash of movement out of the corner of his eye but before he could shout a warning, Daniel was across them room, again preternaturally fast. He had gauged the weak link in the small threesome now standing around the Sarcophagus and ploughed Janet, knocking her sideways into Jack. They both went down, Jack cursing blue murder. Daniel grabbed the lapel of Sam's jacket with one hand while reaching into the open panel on the side of the Sarcophagus with the other. Sam tried to free herself and hit Daniel at the same time but momentum was with him. He was slammed forward by her twisting, towards the side of the Sarcophagus. Teal'c had leapt the Sarcophagus in a smooth movement, but not before Daniel had jammed a hand within, extricating the piece of the shield that had been jerry-rigged inside.

He brought the precious twist of metal and crystal down on the hard stone floor and it gave way with a crack. He didn't have a chance to bring it down a second time. Teal'c was on him, hauling him bodily up and away from the tangle of bodies and the Sarcophagus. Teal'c threw the smaller man backwards and Daniel hit the wall with a sickening crunch.

Jack was up and helping Janet to her feet. Sam crawled across the floor and retrieved the piece of shield she had so painstakingly found a place for. She held it up to her companions with wordless horror. The crystal within the metal frame was missing a large chunk and the metal was bent all out of shape.

"I'm supposing we don't have a spare one of those?" Jack asked, knowing what the answer would be.

xxxxx

"I can't believe I nearly forgot. Daniel said that he'd been living on borrowed time and to ask you about Abydos." They'd been in the holding cell together for about 2 hours, having been discovered shortly after Daniel had sabotaged their efforts. They hadn't put up much of a fight considering what they had been trying to achieve was now impossible. The scientists and goons from Area 51 had been recalled and were on their way to retrieve both Daniel and the Sarcophagus in question. They didn't even know how badly Daniel had been hurt when Teal'c had thrown him across the room.

Jack looked up at Janet, her eyes radiating curiosity. It took him a moment for the question she'd asked to filter through his brain and what Daniel had meant by it. When it did hit him, Jack sighed and dropped his head into his hands. "He's talking about the first time he died." He said simply. He heard Sam make a small noise from the other side of the room and even Teal'c stopped his relentless pacing to look at Jack.

"Whenever we were doing anything risky Daniel would always say that it didn't matter because he was on borrowed time anyway. I never really thought about what he meant till now." Jack said, remembering the sad glint that would be in Daniel's eyes when he said it. Jack had just through he was being goofy or making some obscure historian joke and it hadn't really clicked into place what the younger man meant until he heard someone else say it, out of context.

"Daniel took a staff blast to the chest. A staff blast meant for me. He died instantly." Jack said, swallowing past the lump in his throat. "Ra stuck him in the Sarcophagus to make a point." Jack supplied. He knew both Sam and Teal'c would have heard this story but he wasn't sure if Janet ever had. "So you can mentally add a time Daniel's died to the list in your head." Jack said wryly.

"Something doesn't make sense to me." Sam said. Jack knew she'd been sitting in the corner of the cell they were in, mulling things over and she always did. He'd been counting on that big brain of hers to come up with _something_. Jack looked towards Sam expectantly.

"That thing was trying to get Daniel killed to be released. It could jump to another body." She said. "Why does it need Daniel to be killed?"

"You know I hate answering the hard questions." Jack said, scratching his head and smiling. He knew Sam was just puzzling things out and not really expecting a response and he automatically did respond, knowing it bugged her. Old habits died hard.

"Sir, I think it's as effectively trapped in _Daniel_ as it was in the Sarcophagus." Sam said slowly. "If it weren't, it would have jumped multiple times already, just like Anubis did when he was here, trying to confuse us."

"Ofcourse. It would need Daniel to die to get out just like it needed us to open the Sarcophagus." Janet agreed, nodding. "It hitched a ride in Daniel and can't leave."

"_Because_ of Daniel." Sam finished. "He said he would be able to leave his body once and for all once we had it in the Sarcophagus. He's trapped the thing inside himself and is holding onto it."

"Ofcourse, this is all conjecture." Jack said, the ever-present devil's advocate. Sam was warming to her subject now though and would not be dissuaded. "So really, all we need to do is push Daniel through the Stargate to a completely uninhabited world…" Sam trailed off, her eyes widening as she realised what she was saying. "Sorry, forget I said anything."

Janet had stood and faced them all. "I think what Daniel was trying to tell me was that we need to finally let him go." She said.

"Christ Frasier." Jack snapped, not wanting to hear what the small doctor was suggesting, but knowing that he probably needed to. It was something he should have listened to at the beginning of all of this. The lesson he should have carried through, if nothing else. "Christ… Danny." He breathed.

xxxx

"Yeah Jack?" Daniel was looking up from his desk towards Jack who was standing in his doorway. Jack wasn't willing to leave the threshold just yet and he just smiled. "Am I disturbing you?" He'd asked. Daniel had smiled.

"_Never."_

"_Good deal. Listen, I just had a chat with Hammond and Frasier." Jack had finally stepped into the room and Daniel had swivelled in his chair towards him, ready to give him his full attention. Jack had cleared his throat and although Daniel had gestured at the chair opposite, Jack hadn't taken it. _

"_That whole episode with the … Sarcophagus. Frasier is worried it's left some permanent damage. Made you more... susceptible." He'd said. It had sounded silly to his own ears at the time. Daniel had just nodded seriously. "I know, she had a talk to me too." He'd agreed._

"_Basically, she and Hammond wanted us to agree to never put you in one again, no matter what." Jack had continued, needing to discuss this with the person involved, not really having liked the idea of it being a cloak and dagged discussion between superior officers. He'd liked the fact that Janet had also discussed this with Daniel, probably 'unofficially'. _

"_So you did." Daniel said, his words a statement and not a question. Jack had looked around the cluttered room he was in; everything he looked at had been so intrinsically Daniel. He had thought it funny that such a young man's character would be so well represented by such old things. "Nope." Jack had stated simply. Daniel had blinked, taken aback._

"_Jack, I appreciate the sentiment but you have to." Daniel had said._

"_Not on your life. Just wanted you to know that." Jack had turned and was going to leave but Daniel had risen and had grasped him by the shoulder. He'd turned around to regard serious blue eyes. "Okay, you don't have to agree because you've been ordered to. You have to agree because it's what I want." _

"_Daniel-"  
_

"_Jack, seriously. I really lost it. I wasn't myself anymore. I don't want to risk that again, understand?" Daniel hadn't released his grip on Jack's shoulder and it had become almost painful. "If I die again then think of it as the Universe trying to get it through our thick skulls that I'm supposed to be _dead_." _

_Jack had snorted and had turned again to leave the room. Daniel had moved around so he was blocking his retreat. "Jack, I want you to promise me." _

xxxxx

He never had. It was how he'd justified placing Daniel in that Sarcophagus. He'd never actually said the words.

He'd never _promised_.

He'd managed to doom Daniel anyway.

The klaxons sounded, the telltale sign that there'd been an unscheduled activation of the Gate. Jack heard running feet and then the door to their cell swung open. "Hammond wants you in the Gate room, now." A marine was panting and gesturing wildly for them to come with him. All four people in the room took after the Marine at a dead run.


	13. The Gift

The blast doors slid open slowly, revealing a solitary man standing on the ramp leading to the 'gate. He looked slowly back towards the control room where others were gathered, watching him. They saw the slump of his shoulders and the darkness around his eyes.

He was a man defeated.

"Colonel O'Neill?" General Hammond asked tentatively through the loudspeaker. Jack's eyes focused on the stocky General and the corner of his mouth twitched. "Yes Sir?" He said.

"What happened?"

"He's gone Sir."

The fatal words were still ringing in his ears.

xxxxx

"Close the blast doors!"

Sam watched the two men facing each other on the metal ramp leading to the gate. With a cry she put her hand to the glass separating them as the blast doors lowered. She didn't know whether it would be the last time she saw either of them.

The blast doors closed with a metallic boom and Jack turned back to Daniel, spreading his arms. "We're alone now." He said, using the tone you would use on a wounded animal. Daniel's eyes were darting back and forth, possibly looking for an escape that just wasn't there. What Jack was interested in was the metal shape clutched in Daniel's hand. Somehow, some way he had gotten a grenade. The pin had been pulled and all that was stopping it from going off was Daniel's fingers curled around the pressure trigger.

"Activate the 'gate god dammit, and no unoccupied planet either." He said, gesturing with the hand that held the weapon that could end them both. Jack looked up into his blue eyes. The eyes that had once belonged to a friend of his and who he knew was now further away than ever before.

"Little help here Daniel." Jack prompted, remembering Janet's words that there was something left of Daniel inside. Looking at the hand that held the grenade, he realised that Daniel, _his_ Daniel, was already helping. The hand was white with strain. The creature before him was trying to release his grasp. It had been a last ditch effort to destroy the body it had been trapped in and it was still being held prisoner.

Jack heard a voice, close to his ear. "Zat me."

Jack jerked and raised the zat gun automatically. He fired without thinking and then realised how stupid it could have been. He saw Daniel's eyes widen in fury before he dropped to the ramp. The hand that held the grenade was held aloft and still strong. Jack raced over to Daniel and looked down. One blue eye was open and regarding Jack. "Sorry I had to make you do that." He said, his voice slurred because it seemed only one side of his mouth was able to move. Jack thought that he must only have partial control of his body. "Get me up."

Jack leaned down and hooked an arm under Daniel's, pulling him to his feet. Daniel was leaning heavily to the side. "Much better." He tried to grin but only half of his face quirked and it looked like a grimace. Jack smiled back, despite himself. "How long can you do this?"

"Not long, the bastard's strong and he's already railing at the walls." Daniel said. He looked sideways at Jack, lurching his uncooperative head. "Can you hold the grenade hand for me?" Daniel asked and Jack immediately placed his hand over Daniel's. He felt the fingers go slack beneath his. "I learned this in Ancient school." Jack snorted. He couldn't believe Daniel was trying to make a joke when they had a grenade pressed between their bodies and Daniel only had a half-assed control of his own traitorous body. Daniel was leaning towards the 'gate, his other hand outstretched. Just before he touched the 'gate he looked back at Jack.

"When I do this I'm going to be letting _him_ out. You have to hold him." Daniel instructed. Jack nodded, not really understanding what was going to happen. "Then toss me through the wormhole." Daniel said. Jack stiffened, clutching Daniel's body harder to his own. "Sorry, I must have misunderstood that last part."

"Jack, I don't have time to argue." Daniel admonished, the slur in his voice getting more pronounced. "You have to do this for me. You have to trust me." Daniel turned his face to Jack, one eye bright and alert, the other half lidded and dull. "You have to let me go now Colonel."

"I think that's the first time you've actually called me Colonel." Jack said with a heavy sigh. Daniel's lip quirked again. "Except when I was calling you Colonel Jackass behind your back."

"Ho ho, you don't think I've heard that one before." Jack breathed in, smelling Daniel. He knew they could both use a shower, but there was still that underlying Daniel smell that he would be able to hold onto and remember. The smell of dust and dirt. Clean dirt, like you would smell when toiling in the soil.

xxxxx

"_You've been in the SGC for months now, why do you still smell like that?"_

"_Like what?"_

"_I don't know… earthy. Like you've just been at a dig all day." _

"_Is that bad?"_

"_No… not bad. Actually, it's more comforting. But bizarre."_

"_I don't know Jack. Both my parents were archeologists. Maybe the dig is in my genes."_

"_Maybe." _

"_You always smell like gunpowder." _

"_What? I do not."_

"_I'm not saying that's bad either. In a weird way that's the smell that comforts me."_

xxxxx

Daniel was reaching out to the 'gate and when his hand brushed it the chevrons ignited and it started to spin. "Holy-" Jack gasped but he realised the body in his grasp had become less a dead weight and more a struggling one. He'd almost lost his grip on the grenade in his surprise and now wrestled Daniel partially down the ramp to not be obliterated by the swoosh, as he liked to call it.

Daniel had been strengthened by the presence inside him and struggled mightily, but Jack's grip was firm and he wasn't letting go. As soon as the event horizon settled into the glowing circle they all stepped through on a day to day basis, Jack man handled Daniel back up the ramp toward it.

"What are you doing?" The voice issuing from Daniel was definitely not the archeologists. It seemed to be a voice dragged over gravel. The blue eyes flooded black and Jack realised it was giving up any ruse at being human in its desperation. He smiled wryly. The creature was making the form in his arms look less and less like Daniel which made it easier to toss through the 'gate.

"Sending you through the 'gate like you wanted." Jack said. He gritted his teeth and leaned into the event horizon until he had Daniel mostly covered in the shimmery blue, He heard the thing screech and Jack let go, stumbling backwards. The 'gate disengaged just as he drew out his arms and Jack dully felt a sharp pain on the very tip of his index finger. He brought his hands up in front of his face and saw that the index finger was slightly shorter. He'd lost the very tip to the event horizon. He looked at the 'gate.

No matter how much it took from you, it was always hungry for more.

The blast doors slid open and General Hammond was asking what happened. Jack couldn't really hear him, there was a strange rushing noise in his ears. He heard faintly his name being called again.

"Yes sir?" He'd gone with the standard response, hoping it was the right one.

"What happened?"

"He's gone sir."

xxxxx

"7th chevron will not engage."

It was the fifteenth time they'd tried to dial the 'gate address last recorded as being used. Sam had confirmed that the address was not one that had been on the cartouche or that Jack had uploaded when he'd received the Ancient knowledge downloaded into his brain.

"Major Carter?" Hammond prompted. Sam was looking tired and her eyes were red-rimmed but she had wanted to keep trying the gate address, just to make sure. She looked up at Hammond and then back at Jack who was slouched in a corner of the control room, as unwilling as she to move. "The 'gate must have been in a valley or cave Sir and the explosion from the grenade buried it." She said. The fact that it would have killed Daniel was left unspoken but understood by all in the room.

"I know we're once again left without a body, but do you think we could have a funeral this time?" Jack's voice was rough with emotion and the words tore at Sam's heart. A hurt look crossed Hammond's features briefly but then the line of his mouth firmed. "Of course Jack."

xxxxxx

"I would call this less a funeral and more a bbq O'Neill." Teal'c said, taking in the people gathered at Jack's house. Two weeks had passed since they'd lost Daniel and Jack had agreed to host the wake at his place. He hadn't realised how many people at the SGC had known and cared for Daniel. As he passed through the throngs of people squeezed into his backyard and house he heard either tears or laughter as people regaled each other with memories of Daniel.

Jack looked back at Teal'c, shifting the bag of ice he had in his arms to minimise the cold pressed against his chest. "What do you think Daniel would have preferred Teal'c? A bunch of somberely dressed people eating triangular cucumber sandwiches or this?" Jack said, jerking his head to indicate the people surrounding him. Amidst the sadness of the occasion, there was joy and comfort. Teal'c also looked around before his large brown eyes returned to Jack.

"I believe you are right in the assumption that this is what DanielJackson would have rathered." Teal'c agreed, inclining his head. He then glanced around again. "Where is Major Carter?"

Major Samantha Carter at that moment was up on the roof of Jack's house, idling toying with his telescope. Janet sat beside her, a glass of wine forgotten in one hand and her feet up on the railing. "This is so right." She breathed, surveying the people gathered below. Sam nodded, one strand of wheat coloured hair falling into her eyes. "But everything else is so wrong." She said.

"Its been wrong for a while." Janet stated simply and Sam looked at her. She let a hand drop onto her friends in the failing light and they sat in companiable silence for a while until a voice behind them issued forth. "This is where you two are." Jack grumbled, being followed up the stairs by Teal'c.

"Sir – " Sam started.

"Carter, you call me Jack today." He said simply.

"Jack, what did – "

"You can call me Jack, but no questions." He looked back at her, his eyes the colour of whiskey in the sunset, a silent plea in them, telling of a wound too raw to expose to the light. Sam nodded slightly, acknowledging his pain and need for time. He would speak of what happened, but not yet. Not today.

"So, borrowed time huh?" Janet sighed, her voice heavy with sadness and unshed tears. Jack stiffened but Sam's hand found his forearm and squeezed and he relaxed. His face was carefully neutral. "There was nothing _borrowed_ about the time we had Daniel for." Jack said, turning away from them all so they wouldn't see an old Colonel cry.

"No… I'd call it more of a gift." He said, raising the glass of scotch he had in his hands in a silent toast to the sky.

"One hell of a gift." He repeated softly.


End file.
